The Run
by jazznsmoke
Summary: One-Shot. It's a different spin on the Claimed group, set after Alone. Daryl, Beth, Judith, Tyreese, Carol and Joe are the named characters in this story. (the OC is Joe of the Claimed group) Carol/Joe pairing. Ties into Don't Walk Away but it's not necassary to read that to understand and enjoy this story. :) Little bit of "romance," some family dynamics and friendship.


**A/n: **This is a one-shot, based on the characters of my story Don't Walk Away. This ties into the plot of said story. Depending on how this goes I'll make this couple happen in Don't Walk Away. Otherwise I'm going to change some things up. So, leave me reviews and let me know what you think!

This starts off in Chapter 21 of Don't Walk Away and follows the events of them before and during a supply run.

You don't have to read the other story to be able to follow this.

* * *

**Joe POV**

Over the last few months Daryl, Little Angel, Tyreese, Carol and sweet little Judith have been with us and became an integral part of the group. Hell, Daryl became my second in command, and my best friend. Little Angel, as I like to call her, Daryl's woman, Beth is like the glue that holds us together. She's always there to smooth the rough edges, keeping us civilized, and damn if she doesn't have the voice of an angel. Tyreese is, I don't know how to describe the man. He's quiet, but not Daryl quiet. He says his piece, makes himself heard, but then he's back to doing what needs to be done. He takes care of things that half the time I don't even notice needs to be done. And he's always offering to be on watch. Judith is hope. That sweet little baby brings smiles to all of our faces. Especially when we learned of how important she is to Little Angel. The fact that Little Angel got reunited with her baby was amazing, and gave us even more hope for this world we live in now. Carol is beauty. She's strong, but soft, all at once. She's risen from the ashes, the ashes of the loss of her daughter, and the not so much of a loss, loss of her abusive husband. She's strong enough to continue on, and to grow from it. But yet, she's still caring, she's nurturing, too. She says what's on her mind, which is refreshing, and she has a sense of humor to boot. It helps us all stay positive. And her little bit of medical knowledge is a lifesaver for us. Little Angel's daddy taught her as much as he could, when they were still a group together at their prison.

I've gotten to know her a bit, over the last few months. I find myself looking at her when no one is paying attention. I think she's beautiful. I can't help it I'm drawn to her in a way I've never been before. I'm not sure what I'm feeling, but I feel something. I want to march up to her and kiss her. Not sure that would go over to well, though. I don't think she feels anything for me. I'll keep my feelings, what ever they really are, to myself.

"Hey, Joe," Carol said, startling me. I was so deep in my thoughts I didn't hear her come up to me. I'm sitting on the porch of the farmhouse, keeping an eye on the yard, Carol, Judith and Little Angel, and whittling. I'm working on making a house, like the house we left in Jasper.

"Howdy, Carol," I responded, motioning for her to sit, as I kept on whittling.

"I was thinking, we should go on a run, back to Jasper. Find us a big ole truck, like a semi truck, and go find a Wal-Mart or a Costco or something and get as much food as we can, and some stuff for around the house, as well as maybe some gardening stuff. I know Daryl and the others would like some more barbed wire if we can get into the Home Depot, and a bunch of other stuff. Beth and I've been making a list of things that the guys have mentioned they'd like to have, or need to keep on reinforcing the perimeter, as well as stuff she'd like to get for Judy," She said, straight to the point. One of the things I liked the most about her; she didn't beat around the bush.

"Sounds like a mighty fine plan. I was thinkin' we need to go on a run soon anyhow. Jayne and Daryl have both mentioned it to me. I don't know why we haven't thought about getting a semi before. I doubt anyone else has thought of it either. Probably find a few of them with full tanks. Not much use for a semi in this world," I agreed, thinking aloud. "Why don't we have a meeting tonight, discuss going for a run, and see who all wants to go,"

"Sounds like a good idea. I'll tell Beth and Daryl," She said, her eyes crinkling as she smiled at me.

* * *

"We need to go on a run, it seems. Get things for the yard, gardening, sweet thing over there," I nodded towards the baby, who was in Daryl's arms, "food, and anything else we can think of," We're all in the kitchen, except for two of my men who are on watch.

Every day I thank the Powers That Be, for the small favor of a farmhouse that is big enough for the fifteen of us, and than some. It's a small mansion on a big plot of land, for farming. Daryl, Little Angel and Judith share the master bedroom of the house, Carol has her own room, since every now and than she takes Judith so Daryl and Little Angel can have some time to themselves. I've got my own room as well, since no one can stand to sleep near me cause of my snoring. Every room has two men to it, except for Tyreese's room. The men all gave him his space, not questioning his need for privacy. They don't mind sharing, I'm pretty sure their all glad for it. We've still got empty rooms. I think we're all hoping that we'll find some more of their Prison Group.

"How long is this run gonna be?" Jayne asked, at the other end of the kitchen.

"At least a couple days, I think. I want us to get as much as we can, so we don't have to make another trip anytime soon. I was hoping to make this a permanent home for us. Or as permanent a home as we can make it,"

"What's the plan, then?" It took me a second to find the face that matched the voice of Luke.

"Carol suggested finding a semi truck. Not many people would have thought of taking them, and not many vehicles take diesel, so there should be a lot of semis with tanks that aren't empty. Find one, take it to a Wal-Mart, or Target, or Costco and hopefully a Home Depot and get as much as we can, as safely as we can. We're not going near any malls, though. Not this trip. Too dangerous even with the cold weather. I was thinking four or five of us would make the trip."

"Who's goin'?" Daryl piped up, and I smiled at him.

"Myself, for one. I was hoping Jayne, and Carol would go, and two more, if anyone's willing to make the trip," I quickly added, "'Side's you and Little Angel," I heard a soft sigh, and recognized it as Little Angel's. I know how she worries whenever Daryl's away, for any length of time, but especially when it's longer trips like we're planning. I need Daryl here, keeping an eye on the group, making sure nothing happens while I'm away. And he needs to be here for his family, too. Daryl gave me a sharp nod, accepting that I wanted him here. I knew he knew exactly why I need him here. I looked around the room, meeting everyone's eyes. When I met the eyes of Carol, and Jayne they both gave me a little nod, agreeing to going with. I smiled at them both.

"I'll go," Liam offered, sliding off the counter, where he was sitting, to stand up.

"One more?"

"I'm in," Tyreese announced. No surprise there. He's always offering to go on the runs and take the shift of watch no one wants to take.

"That's set then. We'll leave tomorrow," I announced.

* * *

Daryl came up to me after the meeting, still holding Judy in his arms. I smiled at the little girl, and ruffled her hair a little, making her giggle. "When you going to start teaching her to call you daddy, not Da'l?" I asked.

"Ain't my place," He said, eyes widening. I laughed, despite myself.

"Daryl, you've been right there with Little Angel last three months taking care of that little girl, in your arms. I don't think anyone in your old group would be upset if she were to call you daddy. You love her as your own, don't ya?"

"Sure do. Hell, I wish she were mine," He admitted, frowning a little.

"Trust me, son. There isn't a single one of us here that doesn't call you her daddy. If you're not around we refer to you as such. Little Angel, Carol and Tyreese want to, but won't unless you want them to. Talk to Carol and Little Angel, bout it," I watched as he began to chew on the tip of his thumb. He does this when he's upset or thinking hard about something. I waited patiently for him to think things through. I knew he would say something when he had figured out exactly what he wanted to say.

"A'right," He agreed, and then changed the subject to the run. "Ya want ta make this permanent?"

"Yup. It's big enough for us as is, but we've got room to build eventually if we need more housing. We've got the land to start a small garden ad to make it bigger eventually. We've got the defenses looking nice. We can keep enforcing the fences, making them stronger. And we all love it here. It's the closest we've had to a real home since the world ended, aside from you guys with the prison," I explained my reasoning.

"We got to slack with tha prison," He reminded me.

"We'll stay alert, we'll keep an eye on the surrounding area. We'll come up with places to meet if we get separated for any reason," I reassured him. "In fact. I want you to keep an eye out for safe houses and stocking them, starting when we get back from this trip,"

He nodded as he cradled the now sleeping baby in his arms.

* * *

The next morning we took the bags Carol and Beth prepared for us, and got into the Dodge Mini Van sitting out front. We'd found four cars near the house in Jasper, and took them with us when we relocated to our farmhouse. The Dodge had the most gas, and the most room for the five of us, and our gear. By car it only took us an hour to get back to the city of Jasper.

We drove straight to the industrial area of Jasper. We parked, and we split into two groups. Carol and I in one group; Tyreese, Liam and Jayne in the other. We needed to find a semi quick- it's less time spent there looking if we split up.

* * *

**Carol POV**

Beth and I got bags packed for those of us going on the run, filling them with basic first aid, and food. We left enough room in each of the small packs for a change of clothes.

I was a little surprised that Joe wanted me to go on this run. I haven't gone on a supply run yet, with this group. I was always needed at home, to help Beth keep the men from tearing the house apart. I'm proud of Beth. She's a young woman, now. She's grown into the role of head of the house, and she's a good mother to Judith.

I've come to love Beth just as much as I loved Sophia, Mika and Lizzie. My heart breaks a little every time I think of them, but I've learned to live with it, and so has Tyreese. It took a long time, but Tyreese and I are friends. I was amazed when I told him what I had done and he found it in his heart to forgive me. I wouldn't forget either, if I were him but I'm thank full he was able to forgive me. Daryl, my Pookie, found a good thing here with this group. He's Joe's second, like he was Rick's.

* * *

The conversation Daryl and I had the night before we left was a long time coming. He had walked over to me, purposefully. I noticed the chewing of his thumb, as he wandered over, his crossbow slung across his back.

"Ya think Little Ass Kicker should be callin' me daddy?" He asked, straight to the point. I hadn't expected that question. Beth and I were taking bets on how long it would take for him to want her to call him daddy, and how long till Judy starts on her own. I have to admit, her calling him Da'l is absolutely adorable, but nowhere near as adorable as it would be for her to call him daddy. I had guessed it would be another month, at least before he actually got around to admitting it. At the very least Judith would have started walking.

"Yes, I do, Pookie," I told him. He looked shocked for a second, before schooling his features. He nudged my shoulder with his at my calling him 'Pookie.'

"Why?" He asked, turning serious again. I thought about my answer for a couple of minutes before speaking.

"Cause you've been a father to her when Rick couldn't. You're just as much a parent to her as Beth is. I know you won't let anything happen to her. You'll save her or die trying, like you almost did for my little girl,"

He was silent for a little while, and he swung his crossbow around and started playing with one of his arrows. "What if we find Rick and Carl?" He finally asked. I knew this was his main problem about Judy calling him daddy.

"You'll cross that road if we come to it. No use worrying about it now. Besides, you know just as well as I do that Judith might not even be Rick's daughter. It's just as likely that she's really Shane's,"

"What if I'm a bad daddy? Like mine was?" He questioned, refusing to look me in the eyes.

"You are nothing like him. He taught you the biggest lesson in life: How not to parent. You're not like your father, and you're nothing like Ed was with Sophia. You're already doing an amazing job. Have you talked to Beth yet?" I reassured him, waiting for him to meet my eyes. He slowly looked up, his eyes partially hidden behind his bangs.

"Nah. Wanted ta talk ta ya first," We sat in companionable silence for a while before he got up to go help Beth with Judy.

* * *

Joe and I split off from Ty, Jayne and Liam to search for a semi that has fuel. I'll admit it. I'm attracted to Joe. We've spent a fair bit of time together, and I'm not blind. I see the way he looks at me, especially when he doesn't think any one is looking.

It took us about an hour to find a working semi with a decent amount of fuel. We started it up and drove it back to where we left the van. Ty, Jayne and Liam were waiting for us; they heard the semi start up from a couple blocks over. Ty got behind the wheel of the van with Jayne and Liam with him and we made our way to our first stop. We started at Wal-Mart. We got everything that we thought could possibly be useful. I spent my time searching for things for Judith, since Joe and the others wouldn't have much of a clue what would be useful, and searching for clothing for myself and Beth. After we finished with Wal-Mart we decided to make camp for the night. We had filled a third of the back of the semi with just non-perishable foods. We wanted to fill another third of the truck with just home improvement things like fencing, barbed wire and more.

* * *

We made camp that night back at the house we stayed in before we found the farm. I kept wondering to myself if Joe was actually attracted to me, like I am to him. I decided to find out. I went out to where he was keeping watch, seated on the steps of the front porch. I sat down next to him.

"Two questions," I stated, looking at Joe from the corner of my eye.

His eyebrow rose, and he grunted in acknowledgment.

"Daryl gave me a special request to find on this run. Care to help me?" He looked over at me in surprise.

"Special request, huh?"

I grinned. "He wants me to keep an eye out for rings," I watched as Joe's mouth dropped open. A small snicker escaped me at his reaction.

"Daryl asked you to keep an eye out for rings. Must be serious 'bout Little Angel, then," Joe mused, a smile developing. I can't help noticing the way his green eyes sparkle in the lighting of dusk.

"He doesn't do anything half way," I commented, wryly.

Joe chuckled, sobering he asked, "He mention anything about Judith to you yet?"

"You mean about him being her daddy?" He nodded, "Ya, he did. Told him it was about time he brought it up, Beth and I have been making bets on how long it would take him to bring it up to one of us. I'm guessing you gave him the kick in the pants?"

"Yes ma'am, brought it up to him this morning,"

I glared at him. "What'd I say about calling me ma'am? We're the same age, Joe."

He holds his hands up in mock surrender, "It'd be my pleasure to help you with his special request," He said, drawing me back to my reasons for being out here. I smiled at him, noting his agreement to help me. "What's your other question?"

I decided to be blunt, "You're interested in me, aren't you?" I watched him as he turned six shades of red, and began to splutter. I decided to save him before he choked on his words, "I'm interested too," It didn't help him. He managed to turn a darker shade of red. I was amazed that was possible. It took him a few minutes to get himself under control.

"What's it all mean, than?" He asked, quietly.

"Guess we'll have to test the waters," I teased, and he leaned closer to me.

"How's this?" He breathed, lips only inches from mine. I took a shuddery breath, closing the distance between us. His lips barely touched mine before he pulled back slightly. I felt my stomach do a little flip-flop. Butterflies. He just gave me butterflies, by barely touching his lips to mine. I leaned forward, closing the little bit of distance that he had created. I pressed my lips against his, opening my lips slightly.

* * *

Two days we've been on this run. We've cleaned out the Wal-Mart of everything we wanted and needed right now, and most of Home Depot. We're currently at Cost-Co. We split up again, same groups as when we looked for the Semi. We decided to take a shopping cart each and grab as much as we could, meeting up again at the entrance. We had made all sorts of racket before we even thought about entering the store. We waited for fifteen minutes before opening the doors, every couple of minutes we made a little bit more noise, giving any walkers a chance to get to the noise. Only twenty or so were attracted to the noise. We had shimmied the electric sliding doors open enough for one body to slip through at a time, funneling the dead to us. It was easy to take them all down that way. We went about gathering our items cautiously. There's always the chance that a walker got trapped, or hadn't heard the noises.

Joe and I finished our 'shopping' before Ty and his group had. We waited for them by the entrance. We didn't talk much. It was too dangerous to cause any extra noise than necessary.

We heard Ty, Jayne and Liam before we saw them. It was the sounds of their carts being pushed along the polished cement floor giving them away. They turned the corner, and I looked in confusion at the two people walking with them.


End file.
